Chapter One- God the Father’s Character and Power

The most important spiritual learning that one can obtain during this life is to better and better, more and more, know and understand God the Father, His character and power. This knowledge deepens prayer, strengthens faith and trust, and brings us closer to Him. As we understand more about who our Heavenly Father is and of His divine attributes, we also start to understand more about ourselves, our potential, and our capacity with His assistance.

God is perfection in His person, character, and attributes. (1) A careful study of scripture and words of prophets reveal to us who He is. The Father is the preeminent member of the Godhead. God the Father is the Supreme Governor of the universe. (2) He is “above all, and through all, and in…all.” (3)       

God is a glorified, immortal, perfected person with a body of flesh and bones. (4) He is omniscient. He knows everything-- past, present, and future. (5) He is filled with intelligence.            

God is omnipotent-- He has all power and might. (6) He can accomplish anything. He is the framer of heaven and earth and everything that is in them. (7) Heavenly Father created the universe and is the upholder and preserver of all things. He keeps worlds in their orbits and gives laws to all His creations. His creations are so numerous that they could never be counted. (8) The elements obey Him. (9) 

God the Father is infinite, unending, boundless, and endless from everlasting to everlasting. (10) He is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity. (11) He is the source of light: light that fills the immensity of space. (12)           

Joseph Smith said that “God is the great source and fountain from whence proceeds all good; that He is perfect intelligence, and that His wisdom is alone sufficient to govern and regulate the mighty creations and worlds which shine and blaze with such magnificence and splendor over our heads…” (13)           

God is the Heavenly Father of mankind. We are His spiritual offspring (14), sons and daughters of God. We know that even though God created all things and is the ruler of the universe, mankind has a special relationship to Him that differentiates us from all other created things because we are literally God’s offspring, made in His image. (15) It is almost overwhelming to think about the idea that we are the literal offspring of the most glorious personage of whom it is possible to conceive. (16) We lived in His presence and were part of His family in the premortal life. (17)            

God is perfect in His love. (18) He is emotional and has great feeling and concern for us. (19) Joseph Smith once said, “The Great Parent of the universe looks upon the whole of the human family with fatherly care and paternal regard, for His love is unfathomable.” (20) 

I was thirteen years old when I attended a summer camp at the top of a majestic canyon in Utah. The landscape was covered with great big, rounded, granite boulders, the Quaking Aspen bustled in the breeze, and the fragrant pines reached for heaven. I was in love with being on the top of this most breathtaking mountain.                       

As campers and staff, we sang songs at every turn of the day and night about God, His power and love. These songs brought the Holy Ghost in abundance and my teen-age heart felt spiritual soul-swelling because I felt so close to something so lovely and so good. Heavenly Father was on my mind.           

I remember one night after dark, scaling a very large boulder and then lying on my back so that I could look into the star-filled heavens. Away from city lights, it was awe-inspiring to see the expanse of the dark canopy, the constellations, and the stars that dotted the sky and seemed to go on forever. I was filled with wonder over the scope of all that had been created and was managed by the God of the Universe.           

My first sense was a little surprising. I felt so very small. Almost as quickly and as unexpectantly, came a warm, welcome reassurance that even amongst all of this sweeping immensity, Heavenly Father was aware of me, right at that moment, lying on that rock. And more, that He loved me and that I was His. In that beautiful place, I was given a little glance into the greatness and power of God, but I also learned a little of His great love. 

Because of our Heavenly Father’s perfect character, He has love that is deeper and richer than we can even understand. Elder Milton R. Hunter taught that our Eternal Father has intense, comprehensive, and full love for us. Because of His greater intelligence and understanding than we have, His feelings of love go far beyond our capabilities to love. He said, “The attribute of love is so highly developed that the scriptures state: ‘God is love.’ (21) In fact, Deity’s transcendent love is above and beyond our deepest feelings and keenest conception.” (22) 

Because of that strong love, God the Father deals with His children with perfection. He executes justice with pure integrity (23) and is rich and generous in mercies. (24) It is His pure, perfect love that shows us the precise ideal of kindness, compassion, forgiveness, patience, and long-suffering. (25) He keeps his promises (26), does not change His mind (27), and cannot lie. (28)           

Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught, “God our Father is a glorified, a perfected, an exalted being, who has all might, all power, and all dominion, who knows all things and is infinite in all His attributes.” (29) There is nothing too hard for Him (30), and with Him, all things are possible. (31) God, our Heavenly Father, is everything!  He is magnificent!  He is infinitely more than we can comprehend! (32) 

God the Father’s Power is in His Character and Attributes 

God's power comes from His perfect character. It lies in His omniscient, omnipotent, all-loving, perfect, brilliant, eternal self. These characteristics give Him the ability to do anything, know everything, and all eternity is in his view. He has awesome, mammoth capacity.

His power and authority is called “priesthood”. (33) Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught that, “Our Eternal Father enjoys this high status of glory and perfection and power because His faith is perfect and His priesthood is unlimited…‘Priesthood’ is the very name of the power of God.”(34) Elder Dale G. Renlund and Sister Ruth Renlund called Heavenly Father’s power “God's Total Priesthood Power and Authority” (35) because The Father is the ultimate source of all power, authority, and blessings. (36) The priesthood is defined as God the Father’s eternal power and authority. (37) 

The quest of our lifetime must be to come closer and closer to God the Father and to know and understand His consummate attributes, His virtue and His character. This, so that we can trust Him. Run to Him. Depend on Him. So that during a life of limited view and struggle, we can ground our faith on His love, His availability, His attentiveness, and His absolute power to do anything with perfection. As we understand about God the Father, we learn more about ourselves and our potential.